- Nuggets announce star point guard Jamal Murray will miss the rest of the season with a torn ACL
- Denver’s championship odds tumbled from +1400 to +25oo following the news
- Nuggets now have fourth-best odds of any Western Conference team to win the championship
The Denver Nuggets have been one of the hottest teams in the NBA since last month’s trade deadline, but they were dealt a major blow on Monday night. Star point guard Jamal Murray went down awkwardly late in the fourth quarter of Denver’s 116-107 loss to the Golden State Warriors. Murray was clutching his knee under the basket and writhing in pain before ultimately being helped back to the locker room.
On Tuesday, an MRI confirmed the Nuggets’ worst fears. Murray suffered a torn ACL in his left knee on the play, which will keep him sidelined for the remainder of the season. Murray, who had been questionable to play before the game with a sore left knee, was injured with just over 50 seconds to play in the game.
Denver’s Waning Title Hopes
The 24-year-old is averaging 21.2 points, 4.8 assists, and 4.0 rebounds per game for Denver this season. The Nuggets have aspirations of contending for a title this season after advancing all the way to the Western Conference Finals last year, but Murray’s season-ending injury certainly puts a damper on their chances.
Jamal Murray has been diagnosed with a torn anterior cruciate ligament of the left knee.
He will be out indefinitely.https://t.co/oXw32TeqJz
— Denver Nuggets (@nuggets) April 13, 2021
Denver is 34-20 on the season after Monday’s loss, which is good for the fourth-best record in the Western Conference. However, NBA betting sites have quickly adjusted the Nuggets’ futures odds in light of the Murray injury. The Nuggets’ odds to win the title this season dipped from +1400 to +2500, while their odds to win the Western Conference tumbled from +700 to +1200 at BetOnline.
With Murray out, Mike Malone is going to have to lean more heavily on Monte Morris and Facundo Campazzo to handle the point guard duties. Nikola Jokic may be pressed into an even bigger playmaking role, while Michael Porter Jr. and Aaron Gordon will have to pick up the scoring slack left by Murray.
Denver’s front office attempted to bolster the team’s title chances by acquiring Gordon and JaVale McGee shortly before the trade deadline last month. The Nuggets are 7-2 since the deadline, but the Murray injury may ultimately doom their hopes of competing for a championship this season.
Murray’s Strong Showing Last Summer
Murray was one of the breakout stars of the NBA’s bubble in Orlando last summer when he averaged nearly 26 points per game in helping Denver to an unexpected run to the conference finals. Murray posted a pair of 50-point outings in Denver’s thrilling first-round playoff series against Donovan Mitchell and the Utah Jazz, which were some of the most memorable games following the league’s restart at Disney World.
Denver now has the fourth-best odds of any Western Conference team to win the title this season. The injury-plagued Los Angeles Lakers (+350) still lead Western contenders, followed by the LA Clippers (+600) and Utah Jazz (+850). The Brooklyn Nets are still the presumptive title favorites at +220.
Jokic, who leads the Nuggets in just about every offensive statistical category, has seen his MVP odds improve to -225.
Taylor Smith
Taylor Smith has been a staff writer with GamblingSites.org since early 2017. Taylor is primarily a sports writer, though he will occasionally dabble in other things like politics and entertainment betting. His primary specialties are writing about the NBA, Major League Baseball, NFL and domestic and international soccer. Fringe sports like golf and horse racing aren’t exactly his cup of tea, bu …
